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Wednesday, April 21, 2010

The Pledge of Allegiance

The Pledge of Allegiance was written in August 1892 by the socialist minister Francis Bellamy (1855-1931). Bellamy owned a flag company and sold flag to schools. Bellamy had hoped that the pledge would be used by citizens in any country.
In its original form it read:

"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

This is the way American children originally saluted the flag

In 1923, the words, "the Flag of the United States of America" were added. At this time it read:

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

In 1954, in response to the Communist threat of the times, President Eisenhower encouraged Congress to add the words "under God," creating the 31-word pledge we say today. Bellamy's daughter objected to this alteration. Today it reads:

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

In West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943), the court
held that schools may not coerce or force students into reciting the
pledge, observing the existence of an individual right of conscience to
sit silently while others recited. Most schools responded by making the
pledge voluntary. This case arose form a suit filed by the Jehovah's Witnesses.